Jackpot-winning ticket bought in Fuente: Cebu lotto bettor wins P27 million

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office announced yesterday that a player from Cebu City won the P27,587,136.60 jackpot prize of the 6/45 Mega Lotto draw the other night.

PCSO general manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas said the still-unidentified lotto player bought the winning combination 22-4-3-6-32-30 from a Lotto outlet in Fuente Osmeña in Cebu City.

The winner is the 20th member of the so-called lotto millionaires club for this year.

PCSO-Visayas and Mindanao General Manager William Medici said the winner must write his or her name and sign at the back of the ticket to make sure that the winnings cannot be claimed by other persons.

Medici said the jackpot prize should be validated and claimed only at the PCSO Main Office at the Philippine International Convention Center Secretariat Building in Pasay City.

Only prizes amounting to below P200,000 can be claimed either at the PCSO Provincial District Offices or at the PCSO main office.

Prizes amounting to P20 up to P5,000 can be claimed at any authorized Lotto outlet or at the PCSO Provincial District Offices.

According to Medici the winners should bring at least two valid ID cards when claiming the winnings, the prize can be claimed only from Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“Daghan na kaayong mga nakadaug sa jackpot prize dinhi sa Cebu City ug sa ubang parts sa Central Visayas,” said Medici.

In an earlier interview, Medici said that there were already close to 50 lotto winners in the region, and most of them are from Cebu City.

A secretary of an urban barangay in Cebu City was among the lotto winners, taking home P52 million about five years ago.

Most of the winners went directly to the PCSO main office in Manila to claim their winnings.

It was learned that 55 percent of the PCSO sales goes to the prizes, while the 30 per cent is allocated for charity and the 15 percent is for the operating expenses.

Records show that PCSO had already helped more than 170,000 poor patients in Visayas and Mindanao with a total disbursement of close to P150 million.

Most of the winners maintained certain number combinations representing important events in their lives.

More than 1,600 lucky bettors have joined the ranks of lotto millionaires for the past 16 years.

A seaman from Marikina, a player from Quezon City and one from Calubian, Leyte, shared the P87,752,689.20 jackpot of the Grand Lotto draw last Feb 14. A 44-year-old employee from Quezon City claimed his share of the jackpot prize last week at the PCSO central office.

“The winner paid P140 for a system 7 bet, which is a combination of numbers of birthdays of relatives,” Rojas said.

The winner started playing lotto in 1995 when the PCSO launched the online lottery draw.

A 58-year-old buy-and-sell trader from Quezon province and his 45-year-old employee claimed the P77,373,363.60 jackpot of the 6/49 Super Lotto draw last Feb. 10. The winning combination 44-6-9-1-40-24 represents the birthdays, age of family member of the employee who had been maintaining the number combination for one year.

Eleven lucky winners became instant millionaires last month after they won jackpot prizes ranging from P23 million to P61 million. –With a report from The Philippine STAR/BRP (BANAT NEWS)